Feather renovator and sorter



(No Model.)

H. 0. MOONEY.

FEATHER RBNOVATUR AND SORTER.

llivirnn STATES PnTnNr irren..

HERMAN O. MOONEY, OF FARMINGTON, NEvV HAMPSHIRE.

FEATHER RENOVATOR AND SORTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 387,800. dated August 14, 1888.

Application Filed February l5, 1888. Serial No. 264.092. (No model.)

lo LZZ whom it may concern-,-

Be it known that I, HERMAN 0. MooNEY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Farm ington, in the county oi' Stratford and State of New Hampshire, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Feather Renovatcrs and Sorters; and I do declare the follow ing to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinventiomsuch as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the saine, reference beingI had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which lorm a part oi' this specification.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple and improved machine for sorting and renovating feathers by ainblast, the blast removing the impurities and causing the feathers of a like specific gravity to fall together into receptacles at the bottom of the longer chute.

The invention consists in details of construction described below, and poin-ted out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side View partly broken away. Fig. 2 is a detail view of the clearer in the shorter chute. Fig. 3 is a broken detail viewof the long-chute supports.

Like letters refer to like parts.

A is a picker, bntit need not necessarily be used.

A is a bin, into which the feathers may be placed. directly, or they fall therein from the picker. l

B is an endless feed belt operated by pulleys C, which may be run by a belt lead ing to the pulley s, or in any suitable way, and the object ol' belt B is to carry the feath` ers from the bin to the hopper D. The latter opens into the upright chute or blast-flue F, and is provided with a wheel, E, for feeding the feathers evenly into said line F, which may be twelve by thirty inches.

F is a screen iilling the inside of flue F, and it has an up-anddown motion given to it by the connecting-rod it, attached rigidly to said screen and pivoted to an eccentric roll, 7i', the latter being,` rotated by the friction of the moving belt c?, upon which said roll presses. The connection between the rod and roll should be at a point about two inches above the center of the latter; but the throw of the rod h may be varied by changing the point of its attachment withsaid roll.

G is a blower, which should be about one foot in diameter.

fis simply a wastechnte opening out of flue F, and W is a slowly-moving clearer to carry back feathers too light to rise farther, when they will gradually be slialren'out at f. At the top of the portieri of this flue, which connects with the long iiue L, is a screen, H, of any proper mesh.

I is a screen-chute to receive the feathers coming from fine F, and prevents them from falling in a body into the blast of blower K, which should he larger than blower G. To secure the proper effectof theblast coming from blower K, slant-boards j are provided, and they may be rendered adjustable by armsl and setscrcws m. The line L may be thirteen feet long, one foot deep, and thirty inches wide. At the end is a screen, H", of proper mesh, which at that point kills the blast of blower K by allowing the air to escape, at the same time preventing` the egress of any featliA ers reaching it. Below the bottom proper of line L is a series of slant-boards or rifiles, M, inclined at an angle of about forty degrees, the purpose of which will be spoken of below, and under said boards are feather receivers or boxes N, having drop-bottoms O.

I are standards for supporting and adjusting fine L at any desirable angle, said stand' ards having perforaticns and a tie-rod, as shown. (See Fig. 3.)

A description of the operation will more fully and connectedly show the function of the various parts of the machine, and is as follows: The machine being` set in motion, the feathers are placed in the bin, or fall therein 4from the picker. They are carried by the feedbelt to the hopper D and fed evenly by wheel E into line F. They then fall upon the moving screen F', the blast from the blower G carrying up the finer ones, the coarse and matted feathers, quills, and coarse dirt sliding over the said screen and out of opening f. The

damper 'I is to direct the main blast toward wheel E and prevent coarse feathers clogging at the opening` of chute D. The feathers mov- ICO ing on in the blast lose nearly all the dust and fine impurities which remain as they pass screen H, and then fall upon screen I in flue L, where they all start evenly from the same point, as they are prevented from falling bodily into ue L by the said screen I, being gradually and quickly caught by the heavier blast coming from blower K and carried up Hue L. The blast not being too strong, the feathers begin to fall after leaving screen I, and are deposited in boxes N, according to their specific gravities, the heaviest falling first and the lightest going to the end of the flue, Where the screen H lets out the air and kills the blast without allowing any feathers to escape. As the screens H H may be somewhat coarse,the dust in the flues at those points readily escapes. The slant-boards M, which can easily be made adjustable, prevent the blast from eddying into the boxes N. Thus the coarse and fine feathers mixed will not fall into the first box, but will fall according to their weight into the proper one, nor will the blast draw out feathers after they have been deposited.' The boxes N having drop-bottoms, the feathers can be conveniently removed, and will be found to be graded according to iiueness. IVhen screens F H H get foul, they can be removed and new ones inserted, and ofcourse the dimensions of the various parts may be varied at will. The machine is simple, economical, and efficient for really producing sorted feathers.

Havingfnlly described my invention, whatI claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s

l. The combination, with a feather-supply and the long iiue having a fanblower, of an intermediate flue opening into the long Hue in front of its blower, said intermediate iiue having a fan-blower, a supply-chute, an opposite Waste-chute, and a rising and falling screen for removing the coarser materials, as set forth.

2. The combination, with the inclined blastflue L, the inclined feed-belt B, and feather-bin A', of the upright flue F,located between flue L and belt B, and having feed-chute D, feed- Wheel E, fan-blower G, moving screen F above said blower, wastechute f opposite to feed-chute D, and stationary screen H above the point where flue F opens into iue L, as set forth.

3. The combination, with the intermediate blast-flue, F, of the blast-due L, the latter being provided below the exit of the former with a screen-chute, I, adjustable slant-boardsjbelow said chute, and a fan-blower in the rear of said boards, whereby the feathers do not fall bodily into flue L and the blast may be directed toward chute I, as set forth.

4. The combination, with the blast-flue F, of blastflue L, having at its outer end escape` screen H,aud at the bottom a series of boards, M, inclined forward at an angle and opening into subjacent boxes N, whereby the blast is prevented from eddying into said boxes and removing the feathers deposited, as set forth.

5. The combination, with the shorter blastflue having a waste-chl1te, of the rising and falling screen F and the rotary clearer IV above said screen, as set forth.

6. The combination, with the shorter flue, F, having` feather-supply chute D and wastechute f, of the fan-blower G, the damper T above the latter, for directing the main force of the blast toward chute D, the rising and falling screen F', and the rotary clearer W, as set forth.

In testimony whereofI affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HERMAN O. MOONEY.

Vitnesses:

CHARLES J. LEAviTT, GHARLEs W. TALPEY. 

